In the January 2010 endition of The Internet Wizards Magazine, I wrote about basing a business on your life mission. (You can read that article in the magazine by CLICKING HERE)

I began The Internet Wizards Magazine as part of a mission. That mission is to inspire people, particularly self-employed people who’ve invested their whole heart and soul into their business, to use the magic of effective internet marketing to spread their message, and by so doing, expand their opportunity to help the world.

Because I have a sense of mission, I have never minded the obstacles and discomforts of being self-employed. So I was somewhat dismayed, and even a little annoyed, to read a newsltter last week whose author was complaining about the time and attention he had to devote to watching  trends.

"I’m fed up with everyone trying to predict the trends so they can be the first ones to profit from them," this fellow said. "This year I’m not paying any attention to trends. I’m just going to do what I do."

This fellow’s fatigue is understandable. He’s one of thousands who built a business out of promoting what’s supposedly latest and greatest to millions of so-called "internet marketing newbies."

Staying ahead of the trends in that tenuous market is a must. If you falter, even for a second, someone else comes along and usurps your place in line. It’s understandable that, after a while, staying on top begins to feel like work, and that’s hardly cohesive with the well-honed line that "internet marketing is the fastest way to make millions without working."

But this fellow’s fatigue does not really reflect on the art of trend watching. Rather, it reflects the fact that he let greed, the desire for those "millions made overnight without working," determine what type of business he would engage in.

It’s not trend watching he should be turning his back on. He should be turning his back on a life that’s not being lived from the heart.

The one business model that never fails, the one that carries people onward through fatigue, through recession, through failure, through everything life can throw at you, is the business that is based on a mission.

When your business is based on a sense of mission, you live for something greater than a flashy car, greater than a big house, greater than a Rolex watch.

When your business is your mission, you find joy and purpose in pursuing your vision. And if the flashy car and Rolex watch aren’t currently in the picture, it does not dampen your determination one bit.

In fact, I’ve known people so focused on their mission that the flashy car and big house did not become part of the picture even after they could easily afford them. I’m reminded, in particular, of a client who drove an ancient car painted only with primer, when he could have paid cash for a Rolls Royce. When I asked him about it, he said, "That car’s paid for. It runs good. It gets me where I need to go. What else do I need?"

This man focused all his attention and energy on the important service he provided to his clients and his community. Because he was on a mission, he had no need to pursue the trappings of status. In fact, he saw status goods as a distraction.

This is not to say that there’s anything wrong with rewarding yourself for whatever level of success you achieve. Rather, it is to say that when you base your business on nothing more than the acquiring of fast cash and physical goods, you’re bound to wake up one day and wonder, as Peggy Lee sang, "Is that all there is?"

I believe everyone is born with a mission already encoded in his or her DNA. They may never fulfill that mission, but so long as they pursue it, they will have a sense of purpose and passion. If they turn their back on it, their life will feel hollow and empty.

When I use the word "mission," people often think it has to mean something enormous, like being on a mission to create world peace. "I don’t have a mission," they tell me. "I’m not out to do anything that will change the world.

The fact is, if you listen to your heart, and pursue the mission that was born within you, you will change the world.

I give you, as exhibit A, Susan Boyle. All her life she was on a mission to become a professional singer. She pursed this mission, against all odds, until the night when, at age 47, a frumpy spinster, she stood on the stage of "Britain’s Got Talent, opened her mouth and let her soul fly out.

Within seconds, everyone hearing her knew they were experiencing something momentous.

Video of her performance was on YouTube within an hour. Within days, it became the most-watched video around the world. Her first recording sold more copies than any first recording of any artist since the beginning of the recording industry.

In a later program, the judges, producers and production people who were there that first night said, "My life changed that night. Hearing her sing transformed me."

Susan Boyle was not on a mission to change the world. But by pursuing the mission that was in her heart, she inspired millions of people in every nation on earth, gave them hope and a sense that they, too, could dream their dreams.

And becasue video of her was posted on tghe internet, millions of people around the world were changed not by Susan Boyle’s voice, but by seeing Susan Boyle pursue and achieve her dream. And in that way, Susan Boyle , via the internet, changed the world.

Your mission may not seem grand or world changing. It may seem as simple as helping people be better parents. Or helping people get out of debt. Or making people happy by singing great songs. Whatever it is, that mission is embedded in your heart. And by listening to your heart, by opening up your mouth and letting your soul fly out, you will change the world.

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If you’re one of the three people on this planet who’ve never seen Susan Boyle’s performance on Britan’s Got Talent, of if you just want to see her and celebrate once again, CLICK HERE to see her on YouTube.

I’ve written before about the importance of pursuing your passionate interests. Read my article Should Stevie Wonder Do Keyword Research? for a look at what would have happened if Stevie Wonder hadn’t listened to his heart.

If your business is also your life mission and you want to work with a mission-focused marketing consultant on areas of site design, copywriting and relationship marketing, contact Bonnie Boots by CLICKING HERE to use the contact form.

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The amazing speakers included Erik Stafford, Warren Whitlock, copywriting master Dr. Harlan Kilstein, Perry Belcher, Bob "The Teacherr" Jenkins,  Kevin Nations and Melanie Benson Strick.

I learned so much that my brain feels heavy. And after just two days at home, I’ve already implemented some substantial and very positive changes in my business.

All this focused activity wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t had the good luck to injure my knee just before the seminar. Because I had to limp in on a cane and keep relatively quiet, I learned a great deal and was able to instantly put what I learned into action.

In the past, I’ve attended seminars in all sorts of fields, especially publishing, and come home exhausted from all the late night networking. Lots of business cards get exchanged, lots of plans get made, lots of promises to follow up get flung out. But arriving back at home, I get thrust right back into the ongoing rush of business and family life. Much of what I learned drifts away. Most of the people I’ve met fade from memory.

I come home feeling like I have a thousand new possibilities. I end up lucky to actually implement one.

But this time, a cement sidewalk and my left knee conspired to make me more productive. By colliding just days before the seminar, they interrupted my pattern and put me on a new track.

I went to the seminar as I usually do–armed with self-promotional materials ranging from business cards to multimedia CDs. They all sing the same song-"Meet Bonnie Boots!" And I fully intended to promote myself, no matter what.

But by the time I’d swathed myself in Ace bandages, grabbed my brand new cane and traveled to the seminar, my knee was throbbing, my back was aching and I was exhausted. My conversations with old friends were brief. I barely spoke to anyone I didn’t already know. I put business cards and brochures on my table with a "take ‘em if you want ‘em" attitude and made no effort beyond that to promote myself.

It took all my energy to simply focus my attention on listening to the speakers-hard to hear sometimes, as my knee was screaming "TAKE ME HOME!" most of the time.

In between speakers,  most of the people attending rushed about to pump hands and hand out cards. I sat alone, making notes on ideas I’d picked up that I really wanted to put into practice. And I wrote out plans for the ways I could realistically make changes now, not "someday."

That’s why, back in the home office, I was able to quickly take action. Pumping hands and running your mouth can be good activities at any kind of seminar. I’m not discounting their value. But thanks to a throbbing knee, I have learned there is also a value in the Zen art of attending internet marketing seminars-doing the most by doing nothing.

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What is the sound of one hand typing your email address into the subscribe bar in the upper right hand corner?

Bonnie Boots publishes The Internet Wizards for people, especially small business owners, that want to be more creative, make their own products and market on the internet.

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It was thrilling to see possibly the greatest cover band ever assembled paying tribute to the art of singer/songwriter Stevie Wonder–all under the watchful gaze of George Washington’s formal portrait.

I almost typed "Little" Stevie Wonder, because that’s what he was called when he first appeared on the music scene at the age of 12, a small, black, blind boy playing huge riffs on a harmonica.

When Stevie Wonder was  "Little," being black was not cool in a lot of communities. Some people would have let that stop them from even trying to accomplish anything.

And when Stevie Wonder was  "Little," you seldom saw blind people out in the world. People with blindness, like people with other handicaps, were mostly hidden away. Some people would have let that stop them from even trying to accomplish anything.

As the assembled stars played and sang his songs, Stevie Wonder tapped in rhythm, clearly enjoying the performance of his music right along with the audience.  In that, I believe, lies the secret of why being black and blind in a bigoted world didn’t stop him. It’s this—

Stevie Wonder does what he loves. Always did. Always will. Stevie Wonder didn’t calculate his career and his success. He simply opened up his heart and let his creative spirit fly free.

I work every day with people who want to accomplish something on the internet. All of them are intelligent, talented and creative. Many of them are disabled by a terrible handicap–an overdose of internet marketing information. Too often, they’ve taken to heart advice that simply should not be applied to them. That misplaced advice can cripple creativity.

Recently, I’ve been encouraging a friend to take his expertise in living off the grid and put it online. He ’s been countering my advice by saying "But I’ve done the keyword research and I don’t find many people searching for living off the grid."

Watching the concert tonight, I wondered what would have happened to Stevie Wonder if he’d done keyword research. What if he’d discovered that no one was searching Google for "little blind boys playing harmonica"? Would he have gone on to be a dishwasher? A shoeshine boy?

What would happen to his music if he did keyword research before he wrote a song? Would "I Just Called To Say I Love Yahoo" be a huge hit? Would "That’s What MySpace Friends Are For" have won a Grammy? My guess is no

. I don’t want creative, intelligent and talented people cutting short their dreams and ideas because of marketing concepts like "keyword research."  I want them to follow Stevie Wonder’s example and soar to whatever heights their creativity can take them no matter what the "internet marketers" are proclaiming.

Internet marketing is a huge subject. It covers professionals working at Manhattan advertising agencies just as it covers high-school dropouts trying to make money in affiliate sales. Not everything written about internet marketing will apply equally to these two.

Not everything written about internet marketing will apply to you.

There are always people to whom the so-called rules do not apply. The rules generally do not apply to people inspired enough, creative enough and brave enough to let their own nature define their destiny.

The rule "If you’re black, get back" did not apply to toe-tapping Stevie Wonder. The rule "Only perfect people can be supermodels" did not apply to gap-toothed Lauren Hutton. The rule "Men make careers. Women make beds," did not apply to Martha Stewart. These people didn’t break the rules purely for the sake of breaking them. They broke the rules because rules do not apply to people who let their light shine. Put on your favorite Stevie Wonder record and think about that.

Stevie Wonder – The Definitive Collection

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If you want to spread your creative wings and make stuff to market on the web, my book, "Tapping Into Trends To Create An Endless Stream Of High-Profit Products" will inspire you to be your most creative, successful  self by showing you just some of the many ways I use the internet to make creative cash. Bonnie Boots publishes The Internet Wizards for people who want to discover their passion, make their own products and market on the internet.

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The magazine is a platform for long articles and tutorials. Here in the blog, I post more spontaneous material. Either way, the subject is the same–the business of creating products and marketing them on the internet.

Creating products is something I know a great deal about. I’ve spent more than thirty years as a freelance writer and designer, creating products for all sorts of corporations ranging from newspaper and book publishers to manufacturers of toys and gift items.

When the internet opened up the world of ecommerce, I saw an opportunity to not only create products but market them as well. Today, I’m fully involved in creating products that can be marketed and often delivered via the internet.

Product creation and internet marketing make for a fascinating occupation, one I’m delighted to share with others though my publications and workshops. You can keep in touch with my world by filing in the subscribe form in the right-hand column. I’ll be delighted to have your company!

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